We’re opening up the playbook on how to become a Game of the Week juggernaut.

A little more than a year into our Game of the Week polls, a few of our teams have been able to drum up huge numbers. We want everyone to know how to do it and have the chance to get their team into a Game of the Week.

One of those is Lincoln -- the Railsplitters have won both of the polls that they’ve been involved in this year by more than 4,500 votes combined. Last week might have been their most impressive yet, garnering better than three of every four votes cast, and more than 1,800 total for their Friday home matchup against Temperance Bedford. Last year, the Railsplitters went 4-for-4 in the poll.

Lincoln coach Chris Westfall said the poll has “taken on a life of its own” among his team’s fans. Here are a few of his hints as to how to it got that way:

1. Harness social media: This is likely the single-biggest secret to poll success. Westfall has built a Twitter following of 539 people by being active on the social network, and a few times a week he gives a little nudge to his players and fan base to get out the vote. He also posts a link to the poll on the team’s Facebook page. They take it from there.

“It’s become almost a running joke with us that I can’t believe how many votes show up,” Westfall said. “I don’t know if we have five parents that vote every hour, I don’t now if we have a thousand people that vote once. I have no idea, but it’s taken a life of its own.”

2. Get parents involved: Parents may not typically be as tech-savvy as their children, but don’t underestimate their desire to see their kids’ athletic exploits in the spotlight.

Lincoln makes sure its parents know about the poll just as much as its players and students do. They’ll vote often, and send it to aunts, uncles, grandparents and the like. Votes grow exponentially.

3. Harness the power of student groups: Lincoln has the benefit of a large and well-organized student group. Its members spend the week making signs and getting the word out about the game. And on Friday night, they’re at the game -- home or away -- en masse.

And when they make Game of the Week their cause, the results are impressive.

4: Brand your fan base: It’s hard to walk around on Lincoln’s campus without seeing some references to “Splitter Nation.”

That’s the name Lincoln fans have adopted as their own. It builds a sense of community, and a sense of pride.

“All of us football players, we say hi to everyone and they’re all proud to be in the Splitter Nation,” Lincoln senior offensive lineman Devin McCallister said.

5. Work together: We’d never advocate doing anything other than learning in a school. But a large portion of many Railsplitters votes come from one IP address, and it stands to reason it’s the one for Lincoln High School, as students band together during the day to run up the vote count.